In response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the International Olympic Committee has begun considering postponing the Tokyo Games. While the IOC has emphasized that the Games would be held as scheduled, it was pushed into considering a postponement amid mounting skepticism from participating countries. However, regardless of whether the event will be delayed until before the end of this year or by one or two years, there are a pile of issues.
U.S. broadcasters an obstacle
"Should we postpone the Games by one month or five months? Will we be able to secure Olympic venues? We should start from these points," Yoshiro Mori, 82, the president of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, said at a press conference Monday afternoon, emphasizing that discussions on the postponement of the Games, which the IOC said would be concluded within four weeks, have just begun.
For athletes who are preparing for the Olympics, set to begin on July 24, they will be less affected if the event is held before the end of this year. The Host City Contract 2020 signed between the IOC, the Tokyo metropolitan government and the Japanese Olympic Committee stipulates that if the Games are not held within 2020, the IOC can cancel the event. Seiko Hashimoto, minister for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, explained the details of the contract at a Diet session on March 3 and mentioned the possibility of postponing the Olympics but holding them before the end of this year.
The biggest issue is whether the new coronavirus pandemic will end by the end of this year. Another issue is that a U.S. broadcaster, which pay a lot of money to the IOC for rights to broadcast, always requests to hold the Games in summer, not in autumn when many other big-ticket sporting events are held.
Athletes and venues
What about delaying the Olympics by one year? In July and August 2021, the FINA World Championships will be held in Fukuoka City and the 2021 World Athletics Championships will be held in the United States. So, if postponed by one year, the Olympics will be held at the same time as these events, where top athletes usually participate.
In the Tokyo Games, out of a total of 43 venues, 25 will use existing facilities as Olympic venues to reduce costs. The Tokyo Big Sight complex in Koto Ward, Tokyo, which will be used as the media center during the Tokyo Games, has already been booked for next summer's events, while another venue, Yokohama Stadium, will be used for baseball games during the professional baseball season. Using the same venues will not be easy.
In 2022, the Beijing Winter Olympics will be held. There are other big sporting events including the Youth Olympic Games in Senegal and the Soccer World Cup in Qatar, while there likely will be a change in the list of promising athletes.
Subhead: Security staff
The organizing committee will bring in more than 10,000 security guards from across the country for the Games. Training has already begun for a total of about 110,000 volunteers -- about 80,000 Games volunteers who support operations at Olympic venues and other places and about 30,000 city volunteers who will provide information on tourism and public transportation.
"If the Games are postponed, we don't know how many people we can bring for the event. We may need to provide training again depending on when the Olympics are held," an official at the organizing committee said, expressing a concern.
Subhead: Haggling over the bill
Last December, the organizing committee estimated the total cost of the 2020 Games paid by the Tokyo metropolitan government and the central government at around 1.35 trillion yen. There are real possibilities that the total costs will increase due to refunds on tickets and other reasons, while revenues from sponsors may decrease. Amid such a situation, the bargaining over cost-sharing is likely to begin.
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